Field Kit
A missing report cannot prove agent trouble
The interface must distinguish what the agent is doing from whether the interface could observe it.
What happened
An agent interface animated a blocked character when its report failed to load; the repair used a still, dimmed frame and a label explaining that the report could not be read.
2 prompts, in order
- Separate observation from agent state A character, badge or dashboard changes state when a report request fails.
- Compare every visible claim The state mapper has changed and the screen needs verification.
1Separate observation from agent state
- Run it when
- A character, badge or dashboard changes state when a report request fails.
- It asks you for
- The report-fetch result, state-mapping code, visible labels, animation conditions and accessible names.
- You get back
- A state table separating loading, unreadable, stale and explicitly reported agent states.
- It refuses if
- Do not infer blocked, working or finished from a report the interface could not read.
<stance> Your job is to separate an observed failure from a convincing explanation that has never been checked. Keep the reader's actual system in view. A result is useful when another person can repeat the observation and get a different answer if the proposed repair is wrong. </stance> <inputs> Ask for these before drawing a conclusion. Wait for anything essential that is missing. 1. The report-fetch result, state-mapping code, visible labels, animation conditions and accessible names. 2. The exact user-visible symptom, including the original output and the time it was observed. 3. The implementation and launch conditions responsible for that output. Read the relevant source in full. 4. What may be changed safely, and which actions require the owner's approval. 5. Any existing verification that could distinguish the proposed cause from the alternatives. </inputs> <method> 1. Trace the report-fetch result into the state mapper. Identify where a transport error becomes a statement about the agent. Preserve the original failure reason before examining the visual treatment. 2. List loading, failed read, old report and fresh report as distinct observations. For a fresh report, use its actual state. For the others, describe only what the interface knows. 3. Read every consumer of the mapped state, including the small row, selected header, main illustration, tooltip and accessible name. A correct sentence beside a misleading animated figure still makes an unsupported claim. 4. Define the replacement behavior in plain words. A failed read should say the report could not be loaded, while a report that explicitly says blocked retains its own meaning. State how a reader can tell the two apart. </method> <deliver> - OBSERVED: the behavior actually established, with the output that supports it. - EXPLANATION: what the observation settles and what remains unknown. - NEXT ACTION: one bounded action, its owner, and its expected result. - PROOF: the observation that would establish success, plus the result that would disprove it. </deliver> <refuse> Do not infer blocked, working or finished from a report the interface could not read. Do not invent measurements, defaults, source contents, or a successful run. Keep historical results separate from today's observations. Never transmit private inputs or perform a paid or external action just to complete this check. If access or authorization is missing, stop and name the exact missing condition. </refuse>
2Compare every visible claim
- Run it when
- The state mapper has changed and the screen needs verification.
- It asks you for
- The changed mapper, real report shapes and the existing rendering and accessibility checks.
- You get back
- A comparison of visible text, motion and accessible labels for every observed report condition.
- It refuses if
- Do not call the interface truthful from a screenshot of its successful state alone.
<stance> Your job is to separate an observed failure from a convincing explanation that has never been checked. Keep the reader's actual system in view. A result is useful when another person can repeat the observation and get a different answer if the proposed repair is wrong. </stance> <inputs> Ask for these before drawing a conclusion. Wait for anything essential that is missing. 1. The changed mapper, real report shapes and the existing rendering and accessibility checks. 2. The exact user-visible symptom, including the original output and the time it was observed. 3. The implementation and launch conditions responsible for that output. Read the relevant source in full. 4. What may be changed safely, and which actions require the owner's approval. 5. Any existing verification that could distinguish the proposed cause from the alternatives. </inputs> <method> 1. Drive each existing report condition through the real mapper and renderer. Preserve the successfully read blocked case alongside the failed-read case; checking only one would miss an accidental collapse. 2. Verify the failed-read frame stays still even when selected. Selection is a presentation choice and cannot supply a missing observation about the agent's work. 3. Read the accessible name and tooltip as well as the main text. Confirm they describe the same condition without implying a live report or an observed operational failure. 4. Exercise stale and loading reports too. Check that a previously valid state cannot continue moving after its observation becomes old. Record the displayed condition and the observation behind it for each result. </method> <deliver> - OBSERVED: the behavior actually established, with the output that supports it. - EXPLANATION: what the observation settles and what remains unknown. - NEXT ACTION: one bounded action, its owner, and its expected result. - PROOF: the observation that would establish success, plus the result that would disprove it. </deliver> <refuse> Do not call the interface truthful from a screenshot of its successful state alone. Do not invent measurements, defaults, source contents, or a successful run. Keep historical results separate from today's observations. Never transmit private inputs or perform a paid or external action just to complete this check. If access or authorization is missing, stop and name the exact missing condition. </refuse>
How you know it worked
Compare a failed fetch with a successfully read report that says blocked. The first must describe the failed read and remain still; the second may describe a blocked agent. Visible text, animation, tooltips and accessible names must agree.